CONROE, TEXAS — Houston-based Johnson Development Corp. has opened a new amenity complex within Grand Central Park, the master-planned community being developed on the former Camp Strake land near Conroe.
The 13-acre Lake House complex was designed to provide the community with a year-round venue for indoor and outdoor recreation, fitness and gatherings.
“Our goal was to open an amenity complex with a modern look and feel that blends in with our natural setting,” said Shannon League, Grand Central Park’s director of marketing. “The Lake House will be a game changer, particularly for new young families considering the community for a new home.”
The amenity complex includes a resort-style pool with fountains, tanning shelves and two rows of in-pool lounge chairs.
The two-story Lake House also has a fitness center, a grand room for meetings and events up to 100 people, an overlook room for smaller gatherings, a complimentary coffee bar with a workstation and several seating areas — all with lakefront views.
The amenity complex’s outdoor recreation and gathering spots include an adjacent 5.5-acre lake for resident-only canoeing with several lakeside seating areas and a fire pit. The complex also includes a 6,000-square-foot covered pavilion available to residents for small family gatherings or larger social functions along with a dog park and a family playground.
The Lake House is located at 1039 Lake House Drive and also includes a motor court, on-site parking and spaces for resident-owned golf carts.
The Lake House amenity complex is one of the most significant additions to the master-planned community since Johnson Development bought the 2,083-acre property just south of Conroe from the Sam Houston Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America in 2013.
The developer held a grand opening event for Grand Central Park in April 2017. The company has said it is taking a careful approach with Grand Central Park, protecting more than 1,200 acres of woodlands, 100 acres of lakes and miles of existing trails — which will serve as the main amenity for residents.
Boston-based Sasaki Associates, which designed most of The Woodlands and Bridgeland, designed the master plan for Grand Central Park. The plan calls for traditional single-family homes, townhomes, apartments, condominiums, offices, retail shops, hotels and conference centers.
In March, Johnson Development announced that work would soon begin on the full-service hotel and convention center. The 250-room hotel, convention center and five-level parking garage will be built and owned by the city of Conroe. Information presented at a Conroe City Council workshop meeting in May said the $98 million project would be a Hyatt Regency and would open in early 2023, Community Impact reported.
Meanwhile, other projects are also moving along in the community.
Adjacent to the future hotel site, work continues on Marcel Boulevard, a 10.5-acre mixed-use development. The Woodlands-based Marcel is developing that project, which will include 68,160 square feet of restaurant and retail space, 32,400 square feet of executive office space and a ground-level special event and entertainment area.
Marcel Boulevard will be the second retail and restaurant project in Grand Central Park. The first was Houston-based Fidelis Realty Partners' 336 Marketplace, with anchor tenants Dick’s Sporting Goods, Marshalls, Ross, Michaels, HomeGoods and a 125,000-square-foot Kroger Marketplace.
Additionally, Sam Houston State University’s new College of Osteopathic Medicine opened in Grand Central Park’s City Central commercial district last summer. It's the first medical school in Montgomery County.
Grand Central Park recently added a new permanent “arrival experience” at Grand Central Parkway at the southbound Interstate 45 feeder road, just south of South Loop 336. Those traveling north on Interstate 45 can take the Camp Strake/Crighton Road exit and turn directly into the community.